#also the leadup to that path ....

[martyrbat]

one path i was debating, the one before bruce ACTUALLY breaks it, is he and khoa never have their snow fight or their rain breakup. they stick together, they train together, they STAY together because of the loop and the trauma bruce faced, the realization that he's in love. love has always fueled him and after losing minhkhoa again and again, after cradling his corpse again and again, he actually chooses khoa. he chooses to believe in his honey-promise of returning to gotham as men instead. and like.... that alone i want to write and but the time loop aspect can very quickly get sidetracked or forgotten about and like... NO idea how to tackle it with the skill it deserves lol

@martyrbat

[ashotofogdensoldfirewhiskey]

how does it feel to carry the hinny fandom on your back?? bc you eat up these fics every time 😍😍😍

If I can contribute to the survival of my OTP then I will have done my job. I know this is not at all what you meant, but using this as an opportunity to shout out some of my very favorite fics also carrying the hinny torch:

I love anything by @starlingflight, but particularly:

Bewitched - Spooky Halloween, Muggle (kind of) AU.

Someone Else's Life - I LOVE the characterization in this one, and it's tied up in a really interesting Auror case

Priorities - THIS IS CANON TO ME. Missing HBP moment.

Fallin' All In You & Everything I Wanted - THE definitive missing moments fics - the leadup to and the entirety of hinny's too-short canon relationship. THEY ARE EVERYTHING TO ME.

@takeariskao3 READ HER STUFF, HER HINNY ANGST MAKES ME FEEL SO MUCH:

It's a Match! - Muggle AU, textfic, excellent characterization

my hand's at risk (i fold) - I didn't think anything could make me pro slytherin!Harry but THIS DID. Inter-house quidditch rivalries

Spring Fever - Omegaverse, enter at your own risk but the characterization is chef's kiss. (ngl I had no idea what this meant when I started reading)

The Path From You - Hinny second chances AU. The PINING. The characterization. The mystery. Bodyguard AU sort of??

Already Gone - currently being reworked and re-uploaded but cannot go without mentioning, bc it's that good. Hinny amnesia fic. Keep an eye out

@whinlatter is a mad genius:

Beasts - Ginny's 7th year, canon compliant. SUCH a good character study and deep dive into Ginny, and tbh the most realistic portrayal of the year post war I've ever read. Great hinny moments, their relationship feels so real.

the room at the top of the house - missing Beasts moment but tbh works as a standalone, it's so good.

think/hope - HBP/DH missing moments, post hinny breakup. Has anyone made hinny angst more beautiful? I think not.

Orchards - THE Hinny 6th year summer fic, like it could not be more perfect.

Others you should check out

JSYK ILY by @brightlybound - such a cute textfic that I fell in love with, Muggle AU.

everything i am is yours by @brightlybound again - Muggle AU, childhood friends(ish), so heartwarming and adorable

Persist and resist the temptation to ask you by @nuatthebeach - I'm such a sucker for a childhood friends to lovers fic and this takes the cake

The In-Betweens by @honeydukesheroine - Missing HBP moments, could be canon

@floreatcastellumposts has so many moments I love in her Missing Hogwarts Moments series

I'm sure there are so many others that I'm forgetting at the moment. Pls feel free to reblog & add your favorites too, make it a hinny love fest.

[felikatze]

I think Happily Ever After and The Cage both explore some similar topics in inverse ways and once again the Prisoner and the Damsel are twisted mirrors of one another

Pristine Cut spoilers and discussion of abusive relationships below. One suicide mention but it's STP what do you expect tbh

Compilation of rant I went on on discord 👍

prisoner and damsel are very much always parallels since u take the same path to get to them so they're both versions of the princess that you the player Trust, right. and the Greys are a betrayal of that trust if you kill them, and all that. obvs w the prisoner being reluctant trust and the damsel being unconditional because Knife.

but HEA and Cage are both about being Trapped. In Cage, the Princess has seen the same thing happen twice now, she's disillusioned, she's never going to escape. It will be The Same Thing, Forever.

WHICH IS. THE EXACT SAME AS HEA. The Princess believes she is never going to escape. That it will be Just This, Forever. And both of them believe that it *has* to be Just This Forever even if they don't *want* it to be.

Both of this is shown through an Externalized Force. in Cage, that is the Princess' body, which she has conceived as separate from herself. The body simply acts as it must, which she has no input over. Ignoring, of course, that she can *make it stop.*

And that's the same way HEA can't imagine she'll ever escape the Smitten! She's afraid and scared of change, of the torches going out!! But she wants it more than anything!!

Yet these two routes are foils for each other, too. Bcuz in Cage, it's the Princess who enforces the pattern, and in HEA it's the Hero. (part of him, anyways.) What's interesting here too that both of the routes result from a breakdown of communications.

I said in my big long rambly Cage post, but Cage route doesn't happen bcuz Fate, it's bcuz the Princess wants the Hero to carry her head out and he just *doesn't get it.* He just didn't understand what she wanted.

And the leadup to HEA, everyone in Hero's head is upset because they can't communicate to the Princess what is freaking him out, and Smitten tries to... well... show her, I guess.

(Post-rant addition: Hey, both the Prisoned and the Smitten kill themselves to get their points across. Add that to the parallels tally!)

also like abusive relationship metaphors on both ends tbh. Smitten doesn't respect Princess' autonomy at all. I think part of that is the end of Damsel means he doesn't think she *has* any interiority when it's Hero + Paranoid/Opportunist who want the Princess to be a person instead of a doll, which causes her to be a Person Again in HEA. But Smitten is, again, just so stuck on the vision of Damsel who no longer exists.

+ you could also read Damsel chapter in the context of HEA as just seeing that this is the first person who could conceivably save her so she is leaning in HARD to the romance angle because she sees it as the best way to finally get out. Got herself into the romance out of desparation and now she's stuck and regretting it.

So TLDR Smitten doesn't actually respect Princess as a person and just wants her to be this perfect image he has of her, and we see also in HEA how he literally restrains Princess + Hero and deliberately scares Princess when she even dares voice her own opinion. Smitten sucks so bad in this one and it's shit of him but also thematically interesting and again a good escalation of his character.

Cage on the flipside is the typical "I can't help myself" excuse. See, *she's* not at fault here. It's her *body* doing this! Really, nothing could change this. And u see the rebuttal of that angle from the Hero's dialogue options ("You're making a choice. You're choosing violence *right now.*)

No matter how often she says she's just a head, she's still the one who physically restrained the Hero (wow, just like the Smitten!), it's her who refuses to listen to anything the Hero has to say (wonder who that reminds me of), and it's her who is hurting him, on purpose, to feel better about herself.

the "good" endings to these chapters (as much as there are no wrong endings) meaning leaving with the cage's head / dancing with hea under the stars, both of these only occur once Hero/HEA are finally heard and acknowledged. Cage is so rattled that the Hero didn't bring the knife that she finally actually listens to a single word he's got to say and the two can break out, and the final torch in HEA only goes out once Princess says "I'm so tired of this." and has the courage to say what *she* wants and is *listened to.*

in conclusion (x2): STP good 👍 i love you missus the cage

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Lullaby is also one of my favorites too because she's the FIRST cold badass ninja princess.

YES SHE IS THE OG SHEIK AND THE ONLY ONE THAT MATTERS (no offense to those who like HW Sheik, but... I can't get behind it because it made no sense and I was like "STOP STEALING OOT ZELDA'S THUNDER" lol)

ajfieowajfekw I LOVE LULLABY. Like. This girl. Her journey is honestly so similar to Flora/BotW Zelda's! If you look at it, the leadup to their journeys is very different, Flora is being crushed under the pressure and expectations with no training to assist her, and she's not naturally talented in her magic. Meanwhile, Lullaby is blessed/cursed with her ancestor's prophetic dreams, and she seems to be fairly in tune with her magic as a result. But from there, there are so many interesting parallels - both have the expectation/premonition of evil coming. Flora has a direct path she's supposed to take but can't, while Lullaby has no direction and forges her own plan as a result. People try to have faith in Flora while she's failing time and again in figuring things out, meanwhile nobody believes Lullaby except for a feral child and her personal guard and she'll stop at nothing to get the job done anyway. When the time comes and all hell breaks loose, Flora may not immediately be able to stop it as she still hasn't figured things out, but the evil forces her hand and she finally gets it together and holds it off for one hundred years. Meanwhile, Lullaby, who had her ducks in a row, inevitably is the cause of all the destruction and has to go into hiding and train herself up to fight the calamity that got her father murdered and destroyed her kingdom. Flora may blame herself for the Calamity, but it wasn't relaly her fault. Lullaby, on the other hand, directly caused Hyrule's fall. And that girl picks herself up, learns to fight, and has to stay hidden from the enemy while watching her kingdom burn more and more, and then she guides the Hero and OH MY GOSH I LOVE HER.

OoT Adult Timeline Zelda is so freaking interesting!!

[invinciblerodent]

Y'know, puttering around with my recordings, I think I really am going to give Davrin's romance with Ver a pretty serious twisting around. Rewrite some things a bit, change things around, keep most of the "slow burn" of it intact- but also add in the "friends with benefits" elements that I feel match what he says in the check-in scene after the point of no return better.

I think I have a post from like, months before release, when all we knew about the character was "charming Warden (who may or may not have been the Storm Coast team's commander in '41)", about how I sort of expected his to be the romance that starts off more casual (with the expiration date all Wardens have, it's not surprising that someone who's been one for at least ten years would be hesitant to enter any genuine emotional entanglements, platonic or romantic), and then for him to find himself falling for Rook unexpectedly (and kind of against his will) anyway.

And from some of that late dialogue, I still think that that may have been the exact intention, initially, but maybe they didn't want to create too big a disparity between the different romance paths, or like they didn't want for it to come off like they weren't taking him as seriously as the rest, so the path sort of ended up getting a bit... I don't wanna say "subdued", but I can't think of a better word lol. Brought to match the pacing of the others and the overall story more, that's more like what I mean.

.... Anyway, I kinda think I wanna have them sleep together for the first time either after his personal quest (no more distractions, clearly established romantic interest in- and some commitment to one another, but with still an opportunity to angst about everything else) or preferably, that night after drinking with Lucanis.

I'm leaning towards the latter thought, specifically because it'd be clearly a very, very bad idea.

It'd be far too fast, far too early, I got that scene like right after the Cauldron, so deep in the thick of his personal quest- plus, the mutual interest was barely expressed like one day prior to it, and there was alcohol involved. Which all kind of makes it perfect, because it's an awful time to toss that complication in there.

But, it gives me an opportunity to have the both of them keep thinking that it being just a casual, physical thing is what the other wants (despite the "well, I could see us heading somewhere, someday" of it), and to have their feelings developing sort of in the background of it-- and then!!!!! that forest kiss can also take a role more like another complicating factor, with the "heart of a halla" line being a bit more ambiguous.

Like, casually kissing your booty call/situationship/FWB you've been secretly falling for, it's a bit more touchy-feely than the previously established [they were not established] guidelines [there are no guidelines] suggest is appropriate [none of this is appropriate], but it feels right, and that alone makes it feel weird and confusing, ykwim?

But, then the whole "Most of my life, I've gone it alone. With you... I never want to go back." thing makes more sense being where it is, after his personal quest, to me at least. Because that sounds like a confession, and with being free from worries and the griffons safe (with Eldrin, in that game), there's a great time to have a long-ish, actually serious conversation about what this is and where it's going.

.... That would also mean that some of the bed scene dialogue doesn't make as much sense ("Is this all just for show"? "Just like I imagined"? Girl you know exactly if it's for show and what his hands feel like, you've been getting dicked down semi-regularly for weeks), but I can work with some tweaks to that lol. The final parts of it, about planning the future and getting soppy still make perfect sense, it's just those lines in the leadup that need some minor tweaking.

Idk, I really liked the in-game experience I had, and I love me a good slow burn, but I can't deny that it's more my style when "slow burn" doesn't also mean ".... so sex is a thing that happens only at the very end, when all feelings are resolved". I like it adding more uncertainty and confusion into the mix, and giving a sort of "oh, this is different now" feel to that first time once the feelings are also resolved.

(The date though, I wanna keep where and how it is exactly, because he mentions he got the tip for the picnic from Evka and Antoine, and I find it really cute to imagine him just sort of looking at them after speaking with Valya like.... "... they probably have the right idea of it, don't they. While we're here, let... let me just go ask. How to, uh. Do this whole. Romance thing, I guess. Make it sound, idk, casual. And chill. We're... chill." Never mind that Evka and Antoine are literally one of the most romantic couples any of them know, but yknow, nbd.)

(And then it goes all the way sideways? Love it. Love the "hey so this tea I thought would be a fun, cute thing for us to try made her trip absolute balls for a while, so maybe this outing is not a great opportunity to like, talk. Seriously. About how I may or may not be falling a little bit in love with her. And by 'little bit', I mean 'up to the very tips of my ears'. Nbd, just gonna... postpone, spilling my guts out for her perusal, I guess." of it all. A+, no notes.)

[larathia]

Worldbuild Eyeballing: I'm The Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!

AKA, Larathia went to find a new light novel to read and wound up screaming WHY IS NOBODY ELSE NOTICING THIS at the pages. You can take this as a series rec or just another case of me having an autism at my reading material, take your pick, but I'm going to bulletpoint some stuff I've been eyeballing about it just so I can get it out of my head and get back to sleep.

It's not an asspull, it's indicative. There's that whole business about Liam getting sidesummoned (thanks to the Guide's interference) to a medieval fantasy planet with a light-novel traditional 'Demon Lord' and everything. And the thing is, that's not really out of nowhere. That's very likely a stage most of that universe has gone through. Think about how many "sucked into a total fantasy universe" light novels are out there, where the protag-from-modern-Earth introduces technology. Fast forward a few thousand years and you totally wind up with this setting, where magic and tech work side by side. The fact that later on you realize orcs, elves, dwarves, beastmen and so on are not uncommon just confirms it. ITELOAIE is the same basic setting, just fast-forwarded a few thousand years. Humans aren't even NOTICING the 'dark lord' types anymore. They just become background entities like the Guide and the octopus-headed twit behind the warrior country.

It's no surprise the Emperor would stand against Liam - and also no surprise he'd do so covertly. On the surface Liam is powerful, loyal, and greatly admired by much of the Empire. His worlds are well defended and prosperous. Openly standing against him practically invites civil war - and Liam's so heavily armed that the Empire will probably incur pretty heavy losses in any kind of open conflict. And yet, from the Emperor's POV, Liam is hugely dangerous. He's broken Imperial judgments not just once, but several times - he's freed those Emperors have condemned (and all of those ex-prisoners are loyal to Liam ONLY now), he openly uses AI to assist in governing his realm, he's taken down several houses and two candidates for Crown Prince. And on top of all that, he's backing a candidate for the throne that everyone knows would be powerless to stop him. He IS a threat to the Empire.

Why does nobody ever ask WHY in this setting? There was a war "a long time ago" (I note that so far it hasn't been pinned down just when this happened) when AI tried to overthrow the Empire. The takeaway is "AI bad" but look at the Empire. Embezzlement and graft are seen as par for the course for nobility. So are a huge laundry list of other immoral/evil acts. On top of that, at least half the nobility - maybe more like two thirds - can't even govern their territories well. It's noted repeatedly that Liam's territory bounced back from near-destitution in record time. Yes, he's got the alchemy box, but that wasn't what caused his territory's recovery. It was handing it over to AI for thirty years. And it's still largely governed that way, as Liam has more fun leading battles. (He's not BAD at governing - but he's also largely taught by a robot too.) Of course AI would want to take over such a broken system. And the thing is, there's a lot of hints that Amagi is going down that same path - the longer she serves Liam, the more time she spends helping him govern his territory, the more she's the one calling the shots. Liam could stop her, but why would he? He loves her as both mother-figure and lover, and her recommendations make sense. There's no reason for him to oppose her. It's like watching the leadup to another "AI takeover war" in real time.

Honestly, I'm kinda eyeballing the Emperor too. They mention that the Emperor's got literally hundreds of heirs but they're not too clear on just how long he's ruled. Granting people live to be like 600 in this setting, it's entirely possible the Emperor isn't...exactly human.

[warningsine]

Georgian lawmakers on Tuesday voted down a presidential veto of the controversial "foreign agents" legislation, clearing the way for the bill to come into force. 

The law, which has led to weeks of mass protests, would require media outlets and NGOs that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power."

Lawmakers voted 84 to 4 to override a veto by President Salome Zourabichvili and pass the bill. Most opposition MPs walked out of the chamber ahead of the vote.

The legislation was put forward by the ruling Georgian Dream party in April and approved by the parliament earlier this month.

The bill has been widely criticized by the EU, UN, NATO and the US. Washington has announced travel sanctions over the measure.

The EU said that it "deeply regrets" the law's adoption. EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said the bloc was "considering all options to react to these developments."

Why did the president veto the bill?

President Zourabichvili, a fierce critic of the governing party, vetoed the bill on May 18.

In an interview with DW ahead of the veto, she accused Georgian Dream of jeopardizing the country's future and said the law had become a "symbol of a number of laws and measures and rhetoric that is taking Georgia away from its European path."

"What I think is important is that the country continues on its path towards Europe," she said. 

The government has defended the legislation, saying it is needed to ensure transparency and to keep a lid on harmful foreign actors seeking to detabilize the South Caucasus country.

Meanwhile, opponents have labeled the bill "the Russian law" because it is similar to measures pushed through by Moscow to crack down on independent media and dissent. Critics also say the bill aims to appease the Kremlin and restrict media freedoms in the leadup to Georgia's parliamentaly elections in October.

Protests again erupt in Tbilisi

Large crowds gathered outside parliament throughout the day on Tuesday, with a rally planned for the evening. 

There have been repeated clashes between demonstrators and police since the law was first proposed several weeks ago. 

Speaking from Tbilisi, DW correspondent Maria Katamadze described the situation as "very fragile, very volatile."

"This comes after the unprecedented domestic backlash from the streets of Tbilisi where mainly youth, Gen Z and grassroot movements have been protesting for over a month now," she said. "They say this is a national resistance to the government's actions that many critics say is going to damage the reputation of Georgia across the world and damage the relationship with the West."

[streets-in-paradise]

Random Chucky thought of the day:

Forgive me once more, but this is also inspired by Supernatural. i have an old season in the background while i'm doing other stuff.

I remembered of how in the earlier seasons of the show there was a recurrent reminder of how turning into a demon was the biggest fear of Dean. From subtext to a scene that literally throws that in the viewer's face, it was like super clear and presented as such dark posibility. However, in later seasons they made this nightmare come true and Demon Dean was… played as a joke. What was dissapointing tbh.

Now that I think about it, Chucky doing leadup to a posessed Andy that never happened feels very similar to this. For some reason, i fear that if Don ever explores that long established alternative path with a Chucky!Andy, the same could end up happening.

[thelogbookproject]

The Unity of Skovlan, Entry 31: The General

The Unity of Skovlan is an upcoming unofficial supplement to Blades In The Dark about the fall and rise of the Skovlander people. This series explores what it is all about in the leadup to its September release.

As we enter the Fracturing Period, the final coastal fortress of Reaxh on the western coast has fallen. Queen Alayne, now attempting to avenge her late father King Aldric, has accepted that there is no longer a path to victory. All there is left is spite. For every inch the Akorosi take, the Skovlanders will make sure they pay for it with lives and treasure and leverage. Without any of the coast left, it is only a matter of time until Stonetable is captured, but that’s not going to be easy. Until that time came, the Skovlanders would fight, all the way up the bitter end. These were the days when the Skovlanders began planting the seeds of future revolution. If Skovlan was going to fall, the Skovlanders never would. The Unity War was ending, but even then, Skovlan looked to the future. One day, this would all matter.

What if the Skovlanders let a castle fall with the Squad hidden deep inside so they can sneak up and assassinate the fusion of Major General Armstrong and Ned Stark? That’s this Mission.

Seriously.

For real.

I conceived of General Teaves, the Ox of Akoros, as mostly Olivier Armstrong, a towering woman whose cold eyes and relentlessly brutal patriotism led her to success after success after success, all while wearing the huge black wolf pelt cloak of Ned Stark and wielding their enormous greatsword. Teaves is probably the single most powerful soldier the Squad will ever have to fight, and if the players still happen to have any qualms about outright assassinating enemy officers, this one is going to be extremely difficult (or the players may just want to give this Mission a pass).

As is introduced in the Opposition section, this is the Imperium’s Southern army, not the only army. Given my lore of Stonetable being the ancient and definitive capitol atop the mountains that cover the northern half of the island, losing the south or forcing the Akorosi out for now won’t change the course of the war — it would have long-term supply ramifications, and obviously affect the lives of the remaining Skovlanders there, but even if this Mission pushed back the entire Imperial army it wouldn’t be enough. That said, Teaves is also likely to be replaced if killed, which is why this Mission is so much more about costing the Imperium something and exacting personal vengeance on a hated foe — not that buying time while the southern army regroups isn’t a benefit.

As we enter the Fracturing Period, there are no longer any Valor rewards for making it back with anyone alive. Come back a failure and there’s no consolation prize. You’ll still get whatever you might earn from the Optionals, but Last Stands are really on the table now.

Additionally, kidnap is a permissible end state for Teaves, but this is a bit of a trap. It is very hard to take Teaves alive, and a couple of the Optionals will be ruinously hard without killing The Ox Of Akoros. It’s there if the Squad is still clinging to a moral objection to being assassins, which is a valid mindset, but at this stage of the war it really limits what can be done, and the players should feel that.

I’ve revealed one of a couple of Optionals that will get the Squad sidetracked from just tracking down and killing Teaves, pushing them to explore Castle Adriack further. I like this one because it emphasizes how the whole strategic point of this is delay. Picking up the pieces of the southern army and restoring it will take time, and the Skovlanders can try to regroup in that window or push their luck hitting the disorganized remnants. The longer the Skovlanders can keep the Imperium split between the two fronts (southern tundra and northern mountains) the longer Stonetable will hold. The Sneaking Mission Optional is going to take a ton of resources, probably accepting a ton of stress from Resisting alarm-increasing Consequences. I’ll say that while all five Areas of the Mission have Clocks, none of them is actually an alarm! This is both blessing and curse. On the one hand, the GM is going to have a bunch of things to tick that aren’t raising an alarm. On the other, the GM doesn’t have to wait to fill a Clock — any Consequence could rain guards on the players’ heads. Of course, given the situation, that would basically be an instant Desperate Position so it would eat up a Risky Consequence to impose that, but the players are always one bad roll from jeopardizing this Optional Objective. The last one is a big danger, as it requires alerting the army that something is happening, but it doesn’t inherently expose the Soldiers. There should be some leeway on this one, in that the literal killing doesn’t have to be obvious, the staging can do it. It’s not actually that tough (as we’ll explore in a minute, The Ox is on the roof turret, and pushing them over onto the soldiers working far below would do it) but it will make escaping much harder, and figuring out a way to do this while also doing the Kidnap path will be challenging.

This is how the players stowed away during the takeover of the Castle, and with a Controlled or Risky Position they’ll probably still be hidden in the Passages leading to the low levels. Finding and using the Passages is the key to the Sneaking Mission, but their unpredictability gives the GM a ton of flexibility to put together setpiece moments. As mentioned here though, don’t get bottled up in the passages or risk a quick death.

This is, ultimately, a bit of staging ground for the final encounter. If the Squad gets in and disables the guards, they’ll have a bit of time to breathe and put things together. The safe represented by the Clock is, ultimately, interesting without being strictly helpful. It isn’t an Optional Objective. If the GM has an idea for a reward, go ahead, but it’s mostly a narrative victory and a thing to have to choose to carry or leave behind. If you’re really looking for a mechanical boost from it, I’d suggest +1 to the next Engagement roll for the morale improvement. The final Feature is a “shortcut” to victory if the players try it. They’ll need to stay hidden as the General comes back in and eventually goes to bed, easier said than done, but if they get there it will make quietly killing Teaves much easier. It’s still no instant-kill, as Teaves’ reflexes and strength will keep them from being flawlessly murdered, but it’s much easier than the next Area’s Clock. That said, if the players do this, they have definitively embraced being assassins, and the “immediately panics and terrifies” Optional is blown, as Teaves likely wouldn’t be discovered until morning, which is hardly immediate.

Teaves knows something is up the moment the Squad is on the stairs to the roof. They don’t know what, and don’t immediately find the Squad or anything, but they’re not at ease. Fighting them is an absolute nightmare — a 12-step Clock is huge for killing a single person, and their immunity to Group Actions will keep everyone on their toes. If the Squad skipped the side Objectives and took the least Stressful paths up, they can probably take Teaves on. If they’re already getting tired, this fight is going to suck. Beyond the Group Action immunity though, the rules are still normal, so it’s not like instantly Desperate or anything. Play carefully and don’t get too unlucky with the rolls, and the General can be whittled down. Plus, once on the roof, the howling wind and the private bedchamber below means the players don’t need to worry about alarms. It’s as close to a private showdown as the Squad are likely to ever have, and the Ox is balanced to fight a full group alone.

The amount of focus the escape requires is very context-dependent. If the players are trying to take Teaves with them, or if the alarm is raised (whether from previous action or from the final Optional Objective) and the way is especially blocked, play it out. If the players are still succeeding on the Sneaking Mission Optional, play it out. Otherwise, probably cut past it.

Next time, we’ll take on a very different Mission: The Siege.

The Unity War releases for PWYW on September 1, 2023. Check out https://tinyurl.com/tuos-details for the rest of this series! Sign up for my Patreon at https://patreon.com/thelogbookproject for a preview, and full early access to the game! See youWednesday!

[random-movie-ideas]

Batman Legends: Green Arrow

Another notable hero Batman crosses over frequently with is Oliver Queen, AKA The Green Arrow. Aside from the standard nearly identical origin story, they are both satellite characters to the Birds of Prey, having personal connections to Oracle and Black Canary respectively, and they also have strong ties to the League of Shadows, both having trained under them.

I think in an adaptation, the biggest point at which they are going to cross paths is definitely in the leadup to the League of Shadows story arc, with Merlyn and Lady Shiva being major members who will antagonize Green Arrow and the Birds of Prey specifically while Batman and his team go after Ra's himself.

[freeroaming-curiosity]

[begin video log:

Oppy and her pokemon are moving through the Nexus, eventually coming to two doors. She runs down one, and begins noting the Rooms she runs through

43 Deep, this room has an odd red filling above it… oh wait that’s my hat… How was that Vinebud? Was I a good Quasar?

“Serp serp!”

//image credit: ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do whatever you want with it, with or without credit 

Oppy continues onward, through an arch into a corner of a rather large Room divided into smaller ones, when she’s suddenly surrounded by a variety of creatures, some humanoid, some not, who begin trying to grab her and take her with them

WAH!!! WHAT’S GOING ON?! WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!

“You know the Fate Bearer”

Huh?!

“You will meet the Oracle. You will be enlightened.”

Oppy tries to shift out and run away, but the hooded beings use dark magics to hold Oppy captive.

GAH! LET ME GO!

The mob then runs away through the Nexus, Oppy’s pokemon in hot pursuit.

//but the room's a lot dirtier. also image credit: ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do whatever you want with it, with or without credit 

Eventually they arrive at a Room with several more robed beings bowing before something big, perched atop a mangled throne of detritus. The insectoid being, about the size of a car, turns in its throne to face Oppy, standing and posing with mechanical arms

Escaped one… of many shapes…

Oppy shivers

Thou knoweth the Fate Bearer…

One of the robed people, apparently a commander in this group wearing a horned mask with few features, walks to Oppy

“Bring hither the Fate Bearer”

I don’t know who that is

THOON!!!!! THOON!!!!! THOON!!!!! Forked is thy tongue! Thou knoweth well the Fate Bearer! Thy rest is in his castle!

…you mean Quasar?

Thou hast named the Fate Bearer! He must enter my presence and receive my sermon! THOON!!!!! THOON!!!!! THOON!!!!! 

“Bring hither the Fate Bearer”

Um… I can ask him but you guys are kinda mean. Dunno if he’ll come…

Two other robed people cross weapons in front of Oppy’s path

“Bring hither the Fate Bearer”

Uh…

Oppy backs away cautiously

…how am I supposed to get Quasar if I can’t leave?

Thou holdest a box of many words… Words that have wings… THOON!!!!! THOON!!!!! THOON!!!!! Bid them fly to the Fate Bearer! 

I don’t think I have a box like that

That box is in the folds of thy raiment… I seeth that thou holdest that box… I seeth all that is, all that was, and all that might one day be

Folds of my raiment- you mean my phone???

Charge thy words and bid them fly, for the Fate Bearer must hear my advice!

//ooc note: This is part of the leadup to a High-Stakes event I'll be launching soon. Send an ask if you're interested

[editorsusan]

Eight years ago today, my husband and I took a lovely trip to Fort Bragg. I had been under a huge amount of stress at work, and he wanted to take me away from all that for a few relaxing days. We spent lots of time just sitting and watching the ocean to give my psyche a chance to unwind a little. We also did some fun, touristy things like explore shops downtown and ride the Skunk Train.

We also didn't know on July 4, 2013, that I would be getting laid off from my incredibly stressful job in mid-August, about six weeks later, which was actually a blessing because I really didn't want to quit on my own, so getting forced out solved that problem. I had been with that company for eight years.

It wasn't long after that layoff that Anna reached out to offer me an opportunity to work at the Sacramento Bee on-call, which I gratefully accepted. I (like many others) felt honored to work for McClatchy Co.'s flagship newspaper, and I worked hard there, eventually getting promoted to permanent part-time status and then, later, full-time. I went from an on-call copy editor to a Copy Editor I and then Copy Editor II and witnessed many difficult changes as the Bee's copy desk was reduced from a staff of (if I remember correctly) over 40 people who produced not only the Sacramento Bee but also the Modesto Bee and the Merced Sun-Star and later added the Fresno Bee and the San Luis Obispo Tribune, and then was regionalized into a team called News Desk West, which added team members and more newspapers for us to work on from Washington state (with its papers the Bellingham Herald, the Olympia Olympian, the Tri-Cities Herald, and the Tacoma News-Tribune) and Idaho (the Idaho Statesman). In short order McClatchy would also regionalize its copy desk units of its Central region markets as News Desk Central and its Eastern region markets as News Desk East. This was all a leadup to the current consolidation of McClatchy's copy desk operations into a single unit headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., now referred to as the Publishing Center. After many rounds of layoffs and buyouts and downsizing/consolidating/"optimizing," the Publishing Center was comprised of about 60-ish staff members mostly working from home and scattered across every time zone of the U.S.

I had seen and also been part of many rounds of McClatchy layoffs during those years, but every time I always had some path provided to me that allowed me to return to work right away (maybe with a different department, maybe with a different supervisor, like the lovely Rita, etc., but there was always a way back in somehow, still with McClatchy).

And then we got word in March of this year that the Pub Center staff would be decimated once again as McClatchy would be outsourcing the page design tasks to a contractor called EKCS in New Delhi. Our team of about 60 would this time be cut to about 36. And this time I would be laid off with no apparent pathway to return to the team. After eight years with McClatchy my job would be coming to an end. Eight years after I was laid off from my previous job, where I also worked for eight years.

Eight years. Eight years. Eight years. It's like my working life is being carved up into these eight-year chunks. (If there's some hidden significance there, I have no idea what it is.)

I really wanted to make it to at least 10 years with McClatchy, but that doesn't look like it will happen. And I'm still more than 10 years from retirement age, so I'm going to have to find a new career path forward from here. (As of right now I have no idea what that will be, either.)

I'm mentally tired and overwhelmed by the unknown future. I feel relatively certain that things will work out in the long run, but the control freak in me doesn't like the current uncertainty. And I'm just so, so, so tired right now that I'm finding it nearly impossible to focus on looking for a new job while the countdown on my current job gradually runs out. (I think I have 29 work days left as of Wednesday, my first work day this week.)

This life transition is about the only thing that has been on my mind lately, but I try to avoid posting about it here (because if I posted about it as often as I think about it, that's all anyone would ever hear about from me … and that would get pretty darned old for all y'all pretty darned quick).

[bushfulofbirds]

2/

God forbid the story actually utilises the one bit of lore it manages to introduce in a solid way within the span of that intro. Nobody is trying to make you buy jack shit

The intro: "Hey this is a resource that humans use to fight monsters and has been a literal foundation that allowed them to establish their societies. This is the villain trying to remove this powerful resource from people by force". Hbomb: "OK but why is this at all important tho"

This section is frustrating to watch lmfao

This lack of (clearly displayed) payoff on the dust robberies in v1-2 is something that's also been brought up in the This Is Basically RW,BY video but does hold merit. However what is the point of the leadup to this point being as convoluted as it was.

OK if you claim that they changed this part of the plot... where's your backup my dude. You speak of mis-utilised and limited setups for 10 minutes straight and proceed to immediately create one yourself 😭

He's also fully ignoring the dialogue so far

"I used a cool technical terms to make this commentary look more solid"

No-one is watching the intro and going "dust! Sold!" Because as you so disappointedly mentioned just a moment ago the next scene sets up more stakes around dust and "sell" that to the viewer

"This wasn't explained in a lore dump straight away therefore it's bad"

"The basic premises, target demographics and experience levels of different writers who got to work in different levels of formality will now be completely ignored for an arbitrary comparison that I will use to put ATLA on a pedestal to automatically communicate that other approaches to worldbuilding are bad by default"

Bro literally calls any audience member of a fictional premise a "fucking idiot" jokingly or not that tells me a lot about how this guy perceives audiences at large (inc this video essay)

I know for a fact that if not for Pyrrha's exposition dump existing the crit here would just extend from EXPLANATION BAD to say there's no explanation or grounding for what Ren is doing in that fight

*Twists Pyrrha's background as a character from trained combat athlete to regular ordinary magical teenager who magically knows her shit*

So Jaune not already knowing any combat skills whatsoever and being put in a position where he has to take the bad path to get to where he aspires to be (and in turn being forced to train and work harder to catch up) is inherently bad? Sure, having his and Pyrrha's Emerald Forest interactions be about the exposure is pretty on-the-nose (though definitely not a unique issue). I think that if we wanna really stretch this out we can even say that actually in REALITY not everyone grows up knowing much about their family histories or disconnected from their heritages etc. for a myriad of reasons. So I guess to me it never really seemed far-fetched that he wouldn't necessarily know much besides "I come from a lineage of warriors." So sure, they could have made it more explicit that he was kept away from a lot of that as per the Harry Potter comparison, but that doesn't necessarily boil down to such a terrible and nonsensical thing, either.

Sure, they use Jaune as a vehicle for exposition in v1 a lot. I think that arguably it also tells a lot about Weiss' character rather than forcing her to "pause" being one (hyper-researches her competition to stick with the high profile student and plan her way through school that way). Again this really skips over the part actually showcasing this, which is just very selective and doesn't give the full picture and context of the scene.

"Pyrrha helping Jaune in the Emerald Forest and offering to train him automatically equals trading her characterisation for exposition." Early season Pyrrha and removing her Autonomy in favour of helping Jaune progress through the plot is another argument, though, and I think that putting them together like that is probably not the best approach.

"Jaune is a self-insert and an excuse from Miles to hog screentime away from the plot"

Dude why use a complete other person speaking to somehow justify Miles wanting to hook his "self-insert" with Pyrrha

"Why do semblances exist" because it's a cool and interesting dynamic to work with from an action perspective maybe. For someone claiming that the whole series is based on that it seems interesting to not touch on that tie at all. Criticising the worldbuilding around it is fine and all but honestly there's no harm done in their actual existence

"I'm not trying to be mean but I'm also going to tear this to shreds right here right now for two hours"

I think that one of the bigger writing fumbles in RW,BY is literally Weiss' "no such thing as magic" line. Like yeah Raven turning into a bird is absurd even by general RW,BY power limitations, having the story of the maiden powers be as is something that feels very hard to believe within the concept of the world (whaddaya mean old man Oz gave these girls a special power lineage?) I just think it's down to poor phrasing.

"Everyone knows the name of [Pyrrha's] ability" ok who is this everyone outside of Ruby, Weiss and the baddies who have some extra planning and access points to the whole picture

OK but as soon as people cut to some exposition dialogue mid-fight then it removes the pacing of the fight itself. Monty's style is not like that and as soon as this was done in Volumes 4 and 5 it only led to more people complaining and dropping the show entirely (hell you just complained about it being done in Yang vs Adam).

Ah there we go 50 minutes in we get to the first genuine bottom line statement of "RW,BY suffers from mismanaged story beats which mean a lack of investment and exposition in critical early points that are compensated for too late down the line."

I honestly think that "if you don't feed me everything explicitly off the bat then this is automatically unwatchable and confusing" is also not a healthy approach? Sometimes abstracting things doesn't work but it also doesn't mean that everything needs to be verbalised to you for it to be considered "good." It's about when and how it's done, and how it can really affect your storytelling if done wrong. I think that's what he's trying to get at but the way he does it comes off much more as it needing that spoon feeding to work.

Sure WoR isn't really the most engaging lore companion but shouldn't the whole reasoning given in the video for WHY it's the way it is be seen as like. A good sign?

Whyyyy is this video written like this

Has this guy never seen recap episodes be scattered between main episodes before? It's not ideal or fun but it's also not unique and I wish that was something that was also acknowledged (but hey that way you get less of an excuse to rap about it)

Congrats you struggled to grasp the concept from the main show alone your experiences are not universal

"When they did this implicitly it was great but once they actually elaborated on them in the classroom setting it's BAD and STINKY" (the last 30mins have been a back and forth on this guy's convoluted explanation of good vs bad worldbuilding. Also more backtracking and rehashing.

"Monty writing good M&K writing bad and evil and stinky bleugh"

There's a lot of usages of footage of M&K goofing around or zoning out etc. to vilify them

[literally uses a commentary clip where the writers gush about Shane's usage of the action scene in a pretty coherent way to shit on their writing abilities]*

More twisting scenes into particular contexts to make them work for the argument

Very vague wording to suggest "Writers" means "Heads of the Production."

"Neptune is Kerry's creepy self-insert"

Tired RW,BY fan braves hbomb video after three years (he finally downloaded it of Internet Archive), more at 12

[lemongogo]

b/nha leaks

[avatar-news]

New official place names roundup!

Here’s a roundup of a bunch of major official place names that have been revealed in recent (or recent-ish) releases, which you might not know if you’ve only seen the original ATLA and TLOK shows where they remained unnamed, along with some cool new locations as well.

❄️ Agna Qel’a

Northern Water Tribe capital city

Etymology: unknown

Source: The Shadow of Kyoshi Chapter Two: The Invitation

🌋 Hari Bulkan

Elite residential district of the Fire Nation capital located in the dormant caldera of a volcano, home to the royal family and other high-ranking nobility

Also known as Royal Caldera City

Together with Harbor City at the foot of the volcano, it makes up the Fire Nation capital

Located on Capital Island

Etymology: Most likely Austronesian, where “hari” means king in Cebuano and Tagalog (related to “haji” in Old Javanese, “hadi” in Bikol Central and Waray-Waray, “adi” in Cuyonon, “ari” in Ilocano and Mansaka, and “ariki” in Maori (Polynesian)) and “bulkan” means volcano in Bikol Central, Dupaningan Agta, Tagalog, Waray-Waray, and Yogad, via Spanish volcán (similar etymological path as the “azul-” root of Azula and Azulon, meaning blue)

Source: Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game

🏝️ Water Tribe Sacred Island

A tiny island located near the equator halfway between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes

For thousands of years, disputes between the two polar tribes were resolved by meeting here

Claimed by the nearby Fire Nation in the leadup to the Hundred Year War

Source: Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game

🐺 Wolf Cove

Southern Water Tribe capital city

Has been through major changes in its history, growing and shrinking between a large city and tiny village multiple times

Etymology: Wolves are one of the few non-hybrid animals in the world of Avatar (along with bears, shout out to Bosco!)

Source: Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game

🐋 Whale Harbor

A prominent city of the Southern Water Tribe in the era of Avatar Roku

Illustrates how the Southern Water Tribe is a federation of many smaller tribes/settlements (for example Wolf Cove and Whale Harbor) each with their own local chieftains

Etymology: Unlike wolves and bears, whales haven’t been seen in Avatar, but they have been referenced (Whale Tail Island and Whale Harbor) so it’s possible they exist

Source: Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game

Most of these come from the recent official Avatar Legends TTRPG, which, if you missed it, also dropped the fact that Fire Lord Sozin had a sister: Princess Zeisan!

[gascon-en-exil]

Through Chapter 10 on my second, more Utility-focused playthrough. Lots of different paths this time.

The story so far: I went up to Chapter 10 specifically because what I was most interested in seeing in the midgame is how the story would handle its convergence points, and now I've experienced two of them from two different angles. The post-Aesfrost invasion arc is half old news from the first demo, but after killing Landroi Sorsley invades and you have to decide whether to side with Aesfrost or Hyzante (I went with Aesfrost - the Utility pick). This battle takes place at the same harbor as Chapter 1, only at night and in the rain. The rain actually matters for some of the mage characters...although I suspect that which side you pick for this story split only affects who the enemy is in this particular battle. It ends with Exharme popping up out of nowhere to say he captured Wolffort while you were away, foreshadowing Hyzante's magical purple bombs and being frustratingly badass as usual (he is the Camus equivalent for Benedict's route, as I've already seen). Then he just...leaves, and sets up exposing Sorsley's illicit salt trade to get the story back on track, along with Cordelia helping Roland escape the castle only for Benedict to have him fake his death as in the other route. For Chapter 9 I chose to transport the illegal salt which led into a second nighttime battle in the rain, this one on a map with a lot of variable elevation vs. Travis and Trish's bandit group, who are apparently just the only group of bandits in Norzelia since they pop up wherever the plot needs them to. I wonder how that'll be handled once I recruit them? Anyway, the salt goes to Frederica's uncle Svarog - I assume Exharme's counterpart in Aesfrost as a Camus figure - and after refusing to reveal Roland's identity to him I had to do a random arena fight to recoup the losses of pissing off the client. That's the second Chapter 10 I've seen set in an arena, identical in all but aesthetics and opponent (here Rufus, the mercenary elsewhere seen in Silvio's employ) to the one in the other route vs. Sorsley. At a bit more of a stretch this leads into both Serenoa and Sorsley getting calling before the Saintly Seven, where Sorsley is indicted for his salt trade and then promptly executed by Exharme - no trial of any kind necessary. Once again, Serenoa finds himself filling the vacant seat in the Saintly Seven, and tasked with getting rid of the Roselle under his family's protection.

Impressions on the story: I continue to be impressed, although it is sometimes a little transparent that the narrative has to force itself back into a linear path rather than branching further outward. Nothing feels particular egregious yet, maybe just a little rushed in places and random in others. On the other hand, it's good to see how different story splits give screentime to different members of the game's massive cast. Benedict's route dumps the knowledge of Clarus's underground arena right at the end to set him up as the third-to-last boss, but here I got to see and actively participate in it. On the flip side this route seems to have Sorsley's aide Booker disappear offscreen (he's killed in the other version of Chapter 9 I did last time) and hasn't made any mention of Silvio since he capitulated to Aesfrost. The world dumps on Roland even more, as in not revealing his identity to Svarog he's stuck having to act as the Dawnspear in a prize fight. The leadup to Sorsley's non-trial in this route also gives him a brief moment to praise Hyzante's happy populace, which I already know is going to turn into the major hook for his route. Days ago I saw people on Discord describing Roland's route as his being brainwashed by a cult...but that seems too simplistic an interpretation, in this game or in general.

Gameplay: I have all the conviction-based recruits now (except Maxwell since I think he's only available later on), although I've only used some of them sparingly because I'm trying to keep levels equal. Ezana is even better here than she was in the first demo, but Medina doesn't have much of a place in my army as she's an item-based healer and I rarely have the money to spend on consumables. Groma the dodge tank and Flanagan the flying tank are vastly more useful than Lionel who appears to be some kind of debuffing tank, and Picoletta's best use is oddly to have her decoy distract enemies since her other skills are so weak. I've only used Quahaug the time mage once, but he's got skills that are the equivalent of (from Fire Emblem) Warp, Foul Play, and a time rewind that can work as a heal so he's got fantastic support potential. The enemy scaling in New Game+ and the sheer variety of playable characters keep gameplay feeling fresh even on repeat playthroughs - and good thing too, as I'll need several more runs to see everything.